Naomi Broady rued her inability to pull off a comeback like her brother but revealed she may have been behind his stunning revival at Wimbledon.
Six hours earlier, younger sibling Liam battled back from two sets down to bravely dispose of Australia’s Marinko Matosevic and book his progress into the second round.
But Broady stopped watching her 21-year old brother when he was battling in the third set, so missed a stirring comeback that was one of the stories of the first day of the championships.
It was the first time in 37 years that mixed British siblings had reached the main draw at the All England Club but it wasn’t a perfect family fairytale after Naomi’s 7-6, 6-3 defeat to Mariana Duque-Marino.
“Maybe I was a bad omen, he played better when I left,” she joked.
“I would have rather Liam and I were playing on different days but I got to see some of his game. I watched as much as I could but I went after the second set.
“I can’t use too much energy watching him, because I obviously get really nervous but I’m really pleased that he won.
“I’m excited about the future for him. I read a tweet from the Wimbledon Twitter account and they recalled a stat saying a high number of players are over 30. I think his time will come, he is a great player.
“I don’t think it’s out of the question for him to go on to really big things.”
Broady – who reached the second round 12 months ago – spurned a set point in the opener but was still always in the encounter with her Colombian rival. However, it will be another year before the siblings can match Buster and Linda Mottram’s run to the third round in 1975.
“I didn’t play my best tennis but I managed to give her a close match and did the best I could with what I had,” she added.
“Going into the match, I was quite confident. I’ve had a good grass season overall and took some top players to close matches. I’m obviously quite disappointed.
“I struggled with her slice and that’s a credit to my opponent – her game-plan was executed well.”
Meanwhile, Heather Watson must wait until Tuesday to conclude her deadlocked match with Caroline Garcia, which was postponed due to bad light.
Following a lacklustre first set, collapsing 6-1 to the French number 32 seed, the British number one gave herself a great chance as she battled back to take the second 6-3.
Image courtesy of Surbiton RFC via YouTube, with thanks.
